jayco

Chuck,here's a picture of my lean-to smithy......and mine actually DOES lean!
This is how it looked one day last summer........cluttered!
I built this 35 years ago and it has seen better days.......though it never was quite straight or organized.

There's a 4 lb. hammer in there somewhere that I can't find.....lost it years ago!

Don't let this happen to you!!

Any way.......enjoy your smithy.

I certainly enjoy mine.

James

This guy has discovered the usefulness of the 55 gal. barrel I see.
I'd never tried sitting down forging,but he makes it work for himself.

Welcome to IFI Chuck! There are other blacksmith/machinists that are members here.
You'll fit right in!
Enjoy!

Sometimes bandsaw blades are discarded because of tiny 'hairline' fractures in the blade.
These fractures are just the result of the band being rotated thousands of times.

A pallet mill near my home throws away lots of blades........some have wornout teeth........many have stress cracks which make them unsafe.

This thread reminds me of elementary school science class.......and discovering that you could use a magnifying glass(and sunlight) to catch a piece of paper on fire.

My uncle told of using a magnifying glass to light cigarettes when he was out of matches..

I guess if you could multiply the effect by 100, or 1000 times, you might be on to something.

I suspect there might be some kind of physical limits on how mush heat can actually be generated this way.....but I'm no scientist and occasionally I am wrong( well......more than just occasionally).

If the idea really works, it could supply a lot of the world's energy needs.

Who knows.

I don't have a forge like the one in the picture,but it looks like a nice forge to me.
I'm curious about those two holes in the back: Are they for mounting a blower? or perhaps a forge hood?

If they're not used for anything, you might make a little sheet metal fence, a semi-circle .....standing on edge.....and use a couple screws or small bolts to secure it to the back of the forge utilizing those two holes that are already there.
Just 3 or 4 inches tall.

Should keep heaped coal from falling off the backside.

This tip is similar to what metalmangeler said,

I have noticed all kinds of wood tool handles feeling slick at times. Hoes,axes, and hammers.

If your hands are dry, and the handle is shiny slick, you may be gripping really hard just to hold on to the hammer. If you feel the urge to spit on your palm to improve grip, you might wrap a bit of old fashioned 'friction tape' around the butt of the handle.

Friction tape is sticky stuff and you don't have to use a lot. I usually just put a double wrap around the last 1/2 in. of the handle. You can still get it at hardware stores.

Larry,hammering requires a little conditioning and getting the muscles 'limbered up'.

I have problems with soreness and stiffness if I don't do much hammering for a week or so,.......then suddenly do a lot.

I have also had pinched nerves a few times over the years......nothing serious......but mighty bothersome.

You might check out these links;

I Forge Iron - Blacksmithing and Metalworking* BP0344 Hammer Technique*

BP1001 Hofi Hammer Technique*-*I Forge Iron - Blacksmithing and Metalworking

BP1002 Hofi Hammer Technique*-*I Forge Iron - Blacksmithing and Metalworking

For those that are interested in the process of charcoal making,there's a film that airs periodically on the 'documentary' channel called "The Charcoal People of Brazil"

(Sorry, you'll have to check your t v listings for dates and times)

Although the focus of the film is on the plight of the workers, there is ample footage which demonstrates how to make charcoal ,....using primitive methods.

Shows the cutting of wood,how it's stacked in large mud/brick kilns, monitoring the burn, even how they sack it up for use by the Brazilian Steel industry.

If the situation becomes desperate,install rubber tires and a hitch to the work table.

When the accumulation reaches 'critical mass', tow the work table to the nearest scrapyard/recycling center. Be sure they have a big electromagnet.

Place work table underthe electromagnet.

Their magnet will overcome any static charges/magnetic fields your table may have developed.

Also, while you are there, look at the hundreds of tons of iron and steel the scrapyard has accumulated.

You will then realize that they have a much worse problem than you do!
You will feel better!

As this is merely a treatment and not a cure,.....repeat as needed.

Happy New Year to you , Rusty Iron!

And.....Happy New Year to all!

A year is a great gift........You can get a lot done in a year.

And it's new!........meaning that it can be even greater than last year!

WOW!

James

It's always sad to lose someone.
You have my sympathy.

My wife has one of those plastic pool/fountain things in the front yard.
Since it's late december, and the water is beginning to freeze more solidly each day,we(she) decided that we(I) should drain all the water, put away the pump, etc.

So this morning,I get a bucket and begin to dip the several bucketfulls of leaves, sticks, and water out of the pool.

About the 9th or 10th bucket full,......I happen to look down and see,,,,,,,

A SNAKE!!!!...........IN THE BUCKET!!!!!!!!!!!

It didn't take me long to throw the bucket down!

Just for an instant,,,,,,,I imagined I was being attacked by an anaconda.

(There are no anacondas in Kentucky,........but at that moment i was imagining pretty good!)

I'll have to tell my grandson that I found that *RUBBER* snake he lost last summer..............

Or better yet, maybe I should SURPRISE him!!!!

Does anyone else have things like this happen to them?....Or is it just me?

M-brothers........I don't know if I can help or not, but here goes.........
In the winter, with rain and snow, all wood usually is wet. Wood that has been lying on the ground will be saturated...and difficult to burn.

We heat our home with wood, and a couple of times ran out in February. Not a good time to have to find 'dry' firewood and cut it.

A dead tree that is still standing or dead limbs which have not laid on the wet ground will offer the driest wood.

The problem with using really wet wood to make charcoal is that the burn is often so slow(using the direct method), that the outside of wood chunks burn into ash while the middle of the wood is 'frying' and still spewing water. result.........little charcoal.

You mention a 'plywood furnace'........sounds sort of like a drying kiln as you desribe it.
I wouldn't know how to go about making something like that.
Sounds like a difficult project.

Hope this helps.
Be careful!

My wife gets the inexpensive candles at discount stores(Dollar General, etc.) They are usually made of parrafin.
She saves the 'stubs' for me. I take 'em to the shop to use for simple finishes.
I can't recall having any problems with 'a deep red color' though.
I sometimes touch a bit of candle to a warm punch or pair of tongs......merely as a rust preventative.

One day my dad bought a new LIncoln AC welder at the farm store.
Neither of us had ever arc welded anything . I was 14 at the time.
Dad tried it first, but had trouble maintaining a consistant arc.
Scratch, scratch, buzz,......scratch...you get the idea.

After a few minutes, he turned to me and said "Here......You try it!"
I also fumbled with the 'arc thing' for a while ; I took a moment to look at that little book that came with the welder and was then able to hold an arc.
Reading the instructions helped!

Actually, it would have been much better for both of us to have practiced running a few beads, but dad was much less patient than I was.

We had several broken items around the farm that were in need of repair, so dad picked up a pipe wrench with the handle cracked 2/3 of the way through, and said" Here.....see if you can fix this"!

I did manage to strike an arc and fill the crack with metal.

Surprising both of us, it was a decent weld that still holds today..The wrench is still in my toolbox and gets used regularly.

By the way: My dad had went to the 'GI' school after WWII and one of the books he kept from that time was called FARM MECHANICS-YEARBOOK OF AGRICULTURE-1946

I learned a lot about arc-welding,smithing,soldering,building your own hog feeders, and lots of other shop type stuff from that book. I still refer to it from time to time.

A tripod for the digital camera......yeah, it's blacksmithing related!

If you've ever seen a coal seam in a steep embankment along the highway and considered 'prospecting' with your tire tool.

The straight pin with the eye in it is puzzling to me.
I've used what we around here would call 'log dogs', but they are quite different in design than what is shown in your picture.

The ones I've used look much like BP0392, with a sharp right angle on the point which is driven into the log. 'L' shaped, but more like 120 degrees so the point actually digs into the log.

These must be made of heavy stock, 3/4 to 1 inch, to withstand being driven in and also knocked loose with a sledge over and over again.

Hammering on the eyes of the 'dogs' I have used would soon destroy them.

I'm only guessing at this point, but the chain may have been used to support something heavy in a barn(with pin being driven into an overhead beam).

Might have been used as a linking device for a horse-drawn sled or other farm implement.

Or it might just be a really old log chain.

Kind of interesting....I hope some of the historical smiths here will know how it was used.

I can readily identify with the *tool collector*, (I'm one myself!)
I once bought a large pair of tongs from a guy at the flea market for $5.
They're 'rail road track tongs! The kind two track workers would use to carry a section of track.
They won't fit anything else but sections of track.

No....they're not for sale.

You never know when they might come in handy!

Might want to move a whole bunch of *track* anvils someday...........

Merry Christmas everyone!

Welcome Johnny.!
There are links on the opening Page of IFI that will help you 'get started' with blacksmithing and IFI.

Enjoy!

Rich,my grandson was with me today and saw this knife pic.
He said, and I quote,"Papaw! Why don't we make a knife like that!?"

(Just look what you've gotten me into!)

So.....it looks like we will be attempting to make some sort of knife.

By the way......that's a beautiful knife!

Over the past few years I've learned a lot about the effects of stress and about myself.
But first, I must explain.

Three years ago,I had a cardiac triple by-pass surgery. Serious stuff! With the year of rehab that followed the surgery,I had plenty of time to read, think, and reevaluate my place in the world. (By the way, my doctors tell me I'm good for several more years).

But the point I'm trying to get to is this.
In my case, the day to day stress of trying to make a living in a depressed farm economy nearly killed me. Stress brought on the high blood pressure,heart attack, and ultimately,....open heart surgery!

Well after all that,my world view had to change. I know this is going to sound strange, but I believe that 'how you look at things affects how they really are.'
This is not 'new age mysticism, but rather 'is the cup half empty or half full?

When I was farming full time and struggling to keep my economic head above water, that was "real".

But when the doctors told me I had a couple years to live if I didn't have the surgery, that was even more"REAL"!

I knew this was gonna be a bear to explain!

So,I learned to relax. I learned to do things you're not supposed to do in a modern capitalistic society........like taking the grandson fishing.....even when there's so-called 'important' work that needs to be done.
Or driving down a street or a country road......just because you've never been there before........on a day when you're supposed to be busy.

Or......hammering on a piece of hot iron....just to see what comes of it....for the FUN! of it!

I know, it sounds a little crazy...........

Welcome Jerry!
We chatted tuesday night after the BP's.
Don't forget that your knowledge as a firefighter can prove invaluable to us all.
( We talked about that a bit)

Glad to have you here!